NOVI SAD, Serbia — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club’s Dave Habat captured a 65kg/143-pound bronze medal at the 2017 European Championships on Wednesday (May 3), defeating Ukraine’s Gor Ogannesyan, 11-3, to earn Slovenia its first ever freestyle European medal.
Habat scored five takedowns en route to his decision against Ogannesyan in the medal match. He converted on a pair of single-leg shots to build up a first-period advantage, scoring 35 seconds into the bout and, after giving up a stepout point, finishing off a restart in the final 10 seconds of the frame. Habat stayed on the offensive in the second with two single-leg takedowns and a double leg late. He gave up two points out of a flurry in the waning second but came out on top for another point at the buzzer. [WATCH Habat’s bronze-medal match.]
Habat fell to Bulgaria’s Boris Novachkov, 6-2, in the first round, but was pulled back in when Novachkov, a former three-time All-American at Cal Poly, reached the championship match. Habat cruised to a 14-4 technical fall against Bulgaria’s Viktar Serada to advance to the bronze-medal match.
CKWC RESULTS
Dave Habat, 65kg/143 pounds
First Round – dec. by Boris Novachkov (Bulgaria), 6-2
Repechage – tech. fall Viktar Serada (Bulgaria), 14-4
Bronze-Medal Match – dec. Gor Ogannesyan (Ukraine)
